USA/NOAA 5 year averages plotted using all monthly anomalies

I took the NOAA state data and calculated the 1971-2000 average for each month and then calculated the anomalies. I then graphed every monthly anomaly and calculated the 5 year average backwards using the most recent anomaly as the start point.

Washington State is not uncommon. The last 5 years were -.3F colder than the 1971-2000 average. Which puts the last 5 years colder than ~1898-1908, and colder than ~1940.

It is also 1.1F colder than the previous 5 years.

The thing that struck me about this graph is that previous 5 years were not hotter than many, many other periods. By not hotter I mean the positive anomalies were not larger. What made the previous 5 years “warmer” was the absence of really large negative anomalies. The recent 5 year period saw the first -5F anomaly since 1995.